Meanwhile… the Alberta government has tapped into money from the inquiry to fund four social workers to help families to get information on their loved ones and connecting them to elders and counselors.

Getting around

“Driving… is a privilege, not a constitutional right.” That’s a quote from the dissenting judge on a case that’s just been decided at the Alberta Court of Appeal over our province’s immediate suspensions for someone suspected of driving impaired. The new rules have been challenged in court since they came into force a few years back, and now we’ll see if this will be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Right now a driver loses their license if they’re charged and the law hangs on whether this infringes on someone’s right to remain “innocent until proven guilty” (which the majority on the Appeal decision think it does impede). The provincial government has one year to decide on new rules.

Edmonton’s southwest LRT extension planning is up for some discussion this week at City Hall. Councillors will talk about whether to move ahead with both legs of that extension separately (as planned) or in one shot to save about 5% of expected costs. It’s probably not worth it, since moving ahead right now on the further south portion might get hung up on some land that belongs to the province.